Control and data multiplexing in communication systems

ABSTRACT

Methods and apparatus are provided for a base station to assign to a UE communicating with the base station a number of coded control information symbols being transmitted with coded data information symbols during a transmission time interval by the UE. At least one offset value is assigned to the UE. A size of data is assigned to the UE. The base station transmits information regarding the at least one offset value to the UE. The base station transmits information regarding the size of data to the UE. The number of coded control information symbols assigned to the UE for transmission of control information is determined based on the size of data and the at least one offset value. The control information includes at least one of CQI, ACK/NAK, PMI, and RI.

PRIORITY

This application is a Continuation Application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 12/365,608, filed in the U.S. Patent and TrademarkOffice on Feb. 4, 2009, which claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to aU.S. Provisional Application filed in the U.S. Patent and TrademarkOffice on Feb. 4, 2008 and assigned Ser. No. 61/025,925, the entiredisclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is directed, in general, to wireless communicationsystems and, more specifically, to multiplexing control and datainformation in Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access(SC-FDMA) communication systems.

2. Description of the Related Art

The present invention considers the transmission of positive or negativeacknowledgement signals (ACK or NAK, respectively), channel qualityindicator (CQI) signals, precoding matrix indicator (PMI) signals, andrank indicator (RI) signals together with data information signals in aSC-FDMA communications system and is further considered in thedevelopment of the 3^(rd) Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) EvolvedUniversal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) Long Term Evolution (LTE).The invention assumes the uplink (UL) communication corresponding to thesignal transmission from mobile user equipments (UEs) to a serving basestation (Node B). A UE, also commonly referred to as a terminal or amobile station, may be fixed or mobile and may be a wireless device, acellular phone, a personal computer device, a wireless modem card, etc.A Node B is generally a fixed station and may also be referred to as abase transceiver system (BTS), an access point, or other terminology.Any combination of ACK/NAK, CQI, PMI, and RI signals may also be jointlyreferred to as uplink control information (UCI) signals.

The ACK or NAK signal is associated with the application of hybridautomatic repeat request (HARM) and is in response to the correct orincorrect, respectively, data packet reception in the downlink (DL) ofthe communication system, which corresponds to signal transmission fromthe serving Node B to a UE. The CQI signal transmitted from a referenceUE is intended to inform the serving Node B of the channel conditionsthe UE experiences for signal reception in the DL, enabling the Node Bto perform channel-dependent scheduling of DL data packets. The PMI/RIsignals transmitted from a reference UE are intended to inform theserving Node B how to combine the transmission of a signal to the UEfrom multiple Node B antennas in accordance with the multiple-inputmultiple-output (MIMO) principle. Any one of the possible combinationsof ACK/NAK, CQI, PMI, and RI signals may be transmitted by a UE in thesame transmission time interval (TTI) with data transmission or in aseparate TTI without data transmission. The present invention considersthe former case.

The UEs are assumed to transmit UCI and/or data signals over a TTIcorresponding to a sub-frame. The physical channel carrying the datatransmission and, if any, the UCI transmission is referred to as aphysical uplink shared channel (PUSCH).

FIG. 1 illustrates a sub-frame structure assumed in the exemplaryembodiment of the invention. The sub-frame 110 includes two slots (120a, 120 b). Each slot 120 further includes seven symbols, for example,and each symbol 130 further includes of a cyclic prefix (CP) (not shown)for mitigating interference due to channel propagation effects. Thesignal transmission in the two slots 120 a and 120 b may be in the samepart, or it may be at two different parts of an operating bandwidth(BW). Furthermore, the middle symbol in each slot carries transmissionof reference signals (RS) 140, also known as pilot signals, which areused for several purposes, such as providing channel estimation forcoherent demodulation of the received signal, for example. Thetransmission BW includes frequency resource units, which will bereferred to as resource blocks (RBs). In an exemplary embodiment, eachRB includes 12 sub-carriers, and UEs are allocated a multiple N ofconsecutive RBs 150 for PUSCH transmission. A sub-carrier may also bereferred to as a resource element (RE).

An exemplary block diagram of transmitter functions for SC-FDMAsignaling is illustrated in FIG. 2. Coded CQI bits and/or PMI bits 205and coded data bits 210 are multiplexed 220. If ACK/NAK bits also needto be multiplexed, data bits are punctured to accommodate ACK/NAK bits(230). The Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) of the combined data bitsand UCI bits is then obtained (240), the sub-carriers 250 correspondingto the assigned transmission BW are selected (255), the Inverse FastFourier Transform (IFFT) is performed 260, and finally the cyclic prefix(CP) 270 and filtering 280 are applied to the transmitted signal 290.For brevity, additional transmitter circuitry, such as digital-to-analogconverter, analog filters, amplifiers, and transmitter antennas are notillustrated. Also, the encoding process for the data bits and the CQIand/or PMI bits, as well as the modulation process for all transmittedbits, are omitted for brevity.

At the receiver, reverse (complementary) transmitter operations areperformed as conceptually illustrated in FIG. 3 where the reverseoperations of those illustrated in FIG. 2 are performed. After anantenna receives the radio-frequency (RF) analog signal and afterfurther processing units (such as filters, amplifiers, frequencydown-converters, and analog-to-digital converters), which are not shownfor brevity, the digital received signal 310 passes through a timewindowing unit 320, and the CP is removed (330). Subsequently, thereceiver unit applies an FFT 340, selects the sub-carriers 350 used bythe transmitter (355), applies an Inverse DFT (IDFT) 360, extracts theACK/NAK bits and places respective erasures for the data bits (370), andde-multiplexes (380) the data bits 390 and CQI/PMI bits 395. As for thetransmitter, well known receiver functionalities such as channelestimation, demodulation, and decoding are not shown for brevity and arenot considered material for purposes of explanation of the presentinvention.

PUSCH transmission from a UE may be configured by the Node B through thetransmission of an UL scheduling assignment (SA) or through higher layersignaling to the reference UE. In either case, in order to limit theoverhead associated with the setup of the PUSCH transmission and tomaintain the same size of the UL SA or the higher layer signaling,regardless of the UCI presence in the PUSCH, only parameters associatedwith data transmission are assumed to be informed by the Node B to thereference UE. Parameters associated with potential UCI transmission,namely the resources allocated to UCI transmission, in the PUSCH are notspecified.

UCI bits usually require better reception reliability than data bits.This is primarily because HARQ typically applies only to data and not toUCI. Additionally, UCI bits may require different reception reliabilitydepending on their type. For example, the target bit error rate (BER)for ACK/NAK bits is typically much lower than that of CQI/PMI bits as,due to their small number, the ACK/NAK bits are protected throughrepetition coding while more powerful coding methods are applied toCQI/PMI bits. Moreover, erroneous reception of ACK/NAK bits has moredetrimental consequences to the overall quality and efficiency of thecommunication than erroneous reception of CQI/PMI bits.

Therefore, there is a need to determine the parameters for thetransmission of UCI signals in the PUSCH based on the parameters for thetransmission of data signals in the

PUSCH. Further, there is a need to provide different receptionreliability for the different types of UCI signals in the PUSCH.Additionally, there is a need to minimize the signaling overhead fordetermining the parameters for the transmission of different types ofUCI signals in the PUSCH.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been designed to solve theabove-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and embodiments ofthe invention provide an apparatus and a method for allocating resourcesto the transmission of control signals from a user equipment in asub-frame that also conveys transmission of data signals.

In one aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for a basestation to assign to a UE communicating with the base station a numberof coded control information symbols being transmitted with coded datainformation symbols during a transmission time interval by the UE. Atleast one offset value is assigned to the UE. A size of data is assignedto the UE. The base station transmits information regarding the at leastone offset value to the UE. The base station transmits informationregarding the size of data to the UE. The number of coded controlinformation symbols assigned to the UE for transmission of controlinformation is determined based on the size of data and the at least oneoffset value. The control information includes at least one of CQI,ACK/NAK, PMI, and RI.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided fordetermining, at a UE communicating with a base station, a number ofcoded control information symbols being transmitted with coded datainformation symbols during a transmission time interval by the UE.Information regarding at least one offset value is received from thebase station. Information regarding a size of data is received from thebase station. The number of coded control information symbols isdetermined based on the size of data and the at least one offset valuefor transmission of control information. The coded control informationsymbols are transmitted with the coded data information symbols. Thecontrol information includes at least one of CQI, ACK/NAK, PMI, and RI.

In yet another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus is providedto assign to a UE communicating with a base station a number of codedcontrol information symbols being transmitted with coded datainformation symbols during the same transmission time interval by theUE. The apparatus includes an assigning unit to assign a size of dataand at least one offset value to the UE, and a transmitting unit totransmit information regarding the size of data and informationregarding the at least one offset value to the UE. The number of codedcontrol information symbols assigned to the UE for transmission ofcontrol information is determined based on the size of data and the atleast one offset value. The control information includes at least one ofCQI, ACK/NAK, PMI, and RI.

In still yet another aspect of the present invention, an apparatus isprovided for transmitting coded control information symbols and codeddata information symbols during a transmission time interval. Theapparatus includes a receiving unit to receive information regarding asize of data and information regarding at least one offset value from abase station. The apparatus also includes a computing unit to determinethe number of coded control information symbols based on the size ofdata and the at least one offset value for transmission of controlinformation. The apparatus further includes a transmitter unit totransmit the coded control information symbols with the coded datainformation symbols. The control information comprises at least one ofCQI, ACK/NAK, PMI, and RI.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of the presentinvention will be more apparent from the following detailed descriptiontaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary sub-frame structurefor the SC-FDMA communication system;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary SC-FDMA transmitterfor multiplexing data bits, CQI/PMI bits, and ACK/NAK bits in atransmission sub-frame;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary SC-FDMA receiver,for de-multiplexing data bits, CQI/PMI bits, and ACK/NAK bits in areception sub-frame;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating decoupling of CQI MCS from dataMCS in accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a basestation transmitter in accordance with the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary UE receiver inaccordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter withreference to the accompanying drawings and tables. This invention may,however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construedas limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough andcomplete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to thoseskilled in the art.

While the invention is explained in the context of a SC-FDMAcommunication system, it also applies to other communication systems,such as all FDM systems in general, and to OFDMA, OFDM, FDMA, DFT-spreadOFDM, DFT-spread OFDMA, single-carrier OFDMA (SC-OFDMA), andsingle-carrier OFDM, in particular.

The system and method of the exemplary embodiments of the presentinvention solve problems related to the need for determining resourcesfor transmission of control signals occurring together with thetransmission of a data signal in the same physical channel withoutexplicitly signaling these resources. The reception reliability ofcontrol signals is largely decoupled from the reception reliability ofdata signals. Moreover, the reception reliability among different typesof control signals is also largely decoupled and different amounts ofresources may be allocated to different types of control signals.

The determination of the resources, or equivalently of the modulationand coding scheme (MCS), for the CQI/PMI signal transmission in thePUSCH is first considered. For brevity, unless explicitly mentionedotherwise, all statements for the CQI will also apply to the PMI.

The CQI MCS is assumed to not be explicitly indicated to a UE. Thisincludes both cases where the PUSCH transmission is associated with a SAthe Node B transmits to the reference UE and is semi-staticallyconfigured through higher layer signaling. Instead, the CQI MCS, whichfor a given number of CQI information bits (CQI payload) simplycorresponds to the number of coded CQI symbols, is determined based onthe MCS assigned for the data transmission in the PUSCH.

An exemplary set of 16 MCS is listed in Table 1 in increasing order ofspectral efficiency. The MCS for the data transmission is explicitlyconfigured either dynamically through a SA or semi-statically throughhigher layer signaling as previously discussed.

TABLE 1 Exemplary Set of 16 MCS for Data Transmission. MCS NumberModulation Coding Rate MCS1 QPSK 1/8 MCS2 QPSK 1/5 MCS3 QPSK 1/4 MCS4QPSK 1/3 MCS5 QPSK 2/5 MCS6 QPSK 1/2 MCS7 QPSK 3/5 MCS8 QAM16 2/5 MCS9QAM16 1/2 MCS10 QAM16 3/5 MCS11 QAM16 2/3 MCS12 QAM64 1/2 MCS13 QAM643/5 MCS14 QAM64 2/3 MCS15 QAM64 3/4 MCS16 QAM64 5/6

Similar principles apply for the ACK/NAK (or RI) transmission. Althoughat most 2 ACK/NAK information bits are assumed to be transmitted, theequivalent issue to the coding rate is the number of sub-carriers (REs)used for the ACK/NAK transmission (repetition coding of the 1-bit or2-bit ACK/NAK transmission). This number of REs is also assumed to bedetermined from the MCS of the data transmission in the PUSCH.Therefore, for the ACK/NAK transmission, the MCS simply corresponds tothe number of REs over which the 1-bit or 2-bit ACK/NAK transmission isrepeated. The CQI and ACK/NAK transmissions need not both occur in thePUSCH during the same sub-frame.

An exemplary approach for determining the CQI MCS and/or the number ofACK/NAK repetitions from the data MCS in the PUSCH is to use a tablelinking each possible CQI MCS and/or the number of ACK/NAK repetitionsto a data MCS. Such a table is needed because the CQI payload, codingrate, and target block error rate (BLER) are typically different thanthe corresponding ones for the data. The same holds for the ACK/NAKtransmission.

For example, the data may be turbo encoded and have a target BLER around20% while the CQI may apply convolutional encoding and have a targetBLER around 5%. Therefore, the data and CQI cannot be typicallytransmitted with the same MCS. However, assuming a fixed relationbetween the data target BLER and the CQI target BLER, the number of CQIcoded symbols (CQI MCS) may be determined from the data payload and MCS,and the CQI payload. The number of ACK/NAK repetitions may be determinedin a similar manner given a target ACK/NAK BER.

To create a table linking the data MCS to the CQI MCS and the number ofACK/NAK repetitions based on the exemplary approach, reference BLER andBER operating points are needed. The nominal CQI MCS and number ofACK/NAK repetitions may be defined to achieve respective reference BLERand BER relative to the data MCS corresponding to a reference data BLER.Although, for brevity, a single table is subsequently discussed, the CQIMCS and the number of ACK/NAK repetitions may be linked to the data MCSthrough different tables or a linking equation.

An exemplary outline of the above process is described below:

Select target values for the data BLER (e.g., 20%), for the CQI BLER(e.g., 5%), and for the ACK/NAK BER (e.g., 0.1%) and select a set ofsignal-to-interference ratio (SINR) operating points.

For each SINR point, determine the highest data MCS achieving BLER equalto or smaller than the data target BLER, the highest CQI MCS achievingBLER equal to or smaller than the CQI target BLER, and the smallestnumber of ACK/NAK repetitions achieving ACK/NAK BER equal to or smallerthan the ACK/NAK target BER.

For each SINR operating point, link the above highest data MCS to theabove highest CQI MCS and the above smallest number of ACK/NAKrepetitions. 1-bit ACK/NAK transmission, for example, requires SINR thatis 3 decibel(dB) smaller than the SINR for 2-bit ACK/NAK transmissionfor the same target BER.

A reference transmitter/channel/receiver setup may be assumed such as,for example, one UE transmitter antenna, two uncorrelated Node Breceiver antennas, a reference propagation channel, together with areference data payload and CQI payload.

Table 2 describes the link between the data MCS and the CQI MCS or thenumber of ACK/NAK repetitions. Using the example of Table 1, sixteen(16) CQI MCS and sixteen (16) ACK/NAK repetitions may be defined (twiceas many repetitions apply for 2-bit ACK/NAK transmission relative to1-bit ACK/NAK transmission).

TABLE 2 Link of Data MCS to CQI MCS and to ACK/NAK Repetitions. SINRPoint Data MCS CQI MCS ACK/NAK Repetitions 1 MCS_(D1) MCS_(C1) A₁ 2MCS_(D2) MCS_(C2) A₂ . . . . . . . . . . . . 16  MCS_(D16) MCS_(C16) A₁₆

Strictly linking the CQI coded symbols (MCS) or the number of ACK/NAKrepetitions with the data MCS forces a corresponding link between CQIBLER, the ACK/NAK BER, and data BLER, which is generally not desirable.For example, the Node B scheduler may choose a data target BLER from 10%to 40%, depending on the application and/or the system conditions(latency, system load, etc.), but this should not impact the CQI BLER orthe ACK/NAK BER, which should be largely independent of suchconsiderations. In order to effectively decouple the CQI target BLER andthe ACK/NAK target BER from the data target BLER, an offset relative tothe nominal CQI MCS and an offset relative to the nominal ACK/NAKrepetitions associated with a specific data MCS may be semi-staticallyconfigured for the CQI transmission and the ACK/NAK transmission in thePUSCH.

As the Node B scheduler may, for example, choose a data target BLERlarger than 20% for a certain UE, the CQI target BLER may still remainat the desired exemplary value of 5% by using an offset to specify alower CQI MCS (i.e., lower coding rate resulting in more CQI codedsymbols) than the one resulting from the link to the data MCS.Respective examples apply for other UCI signals.

As this variability in the target BLERs relative to the reference onesis not expected to be very large, a few bits may be used to specify theCQI MCS offset relative to the CQI MCS obtained from the link to thedata MCS. For example, using 2 bits to specify the CQI MCS offset, outof the corresponding 4 offset values for the CQI MCS, one may indicate ahigher MCS, two may indicate two smaller MCS, and one may indicate thenominal MCS (obtained from the link to the data MCS). The same appliesfor the number of ACK/NAK repetitions. One offset value may indicate thenext lower number of possible repetitions, one may indicate the nominalnumber of repetitions (obtained from the link to the data MCS), and theother two may indicate the next two higher numbers of repetitions.

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the present invention forthe CQI, but the same principle may be extended to the ACK/NAK or RI ina straightforward manner, the description of which is omitted forbrevity. The UE is either dynamically (through an SA) or semi-statically(through higher layers) assigned the MCS it should use for the datatransmission in the PUSCH 410. Then, using the link to the data MCS 420,either through a Table or a linking equation, the UE determines thenominal MCS for the CQI transmission 430 in the PUSCH. Subsequently,using the CQI MCS offset the UE was assigned as part of theconfiguration parameters for the CQI transmission (through higher layersignaling), the UE adjusts the CQI MCS relative to the nominal CQI MCSbased on the indication from the CQI MCS offset. For the previousexample of an offset specified by 2 bits, the UE may select one of thefour MCS indicated as MCS1 441, MCS2 442, MCS3 443, and MCS4 444.

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a Node B transmitter inaccordance with the present invention. In the exemplary embodiment, OFDMtransmission method is used for purposes of example and explanationonly. The UCI offsets as described above are determined in a computingunit 510 and may be coupled together with other higher layer controlsignaling and data. The UCI offset bits and any other combined bits areencoded and modulated in encoder/modulator unit 520. Aserial-to-parallel conversion is applied to the encoded and modulatedsymbols in a serial-to-parallel converter 530. IFFT is performed in anIFFT unit 540, a parallel-to-serial conversion is applied in aparallel-to-serial converter 550, and CP is inserted in CP unit 560before the signal is transmitted. For brevity, additional transmittercircuitry, such as digital-to-analog converter, analog filters,amplifiers, and transmitter antennas are not illustrated.

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a UE receiver inaccordance with the present invention. In the exemplary embodiment, OFDMtransmission method is used for purposes of example and explanationonly. The Radio-Frequency (RF) analog signals transmitted from a Node Bis received and processed by a pre-processing unit 610, which mayinclude additional processing circuits (such as filters, amplifiers,frequency down-converters, analog-to-digital converters, etc.) not shownfor brevity. The digital signal resulting from the pre-processing unit610 has the CP removed in CP unit 620, a serial-to-parallel conversionis applied in a serial-to-parallel converter 630, and FFT is performedin a FFT unit 640. A parallel-to-serial conversion is applied to theconverted symbols in a parallel-to-serial converter 650, and the symbolsare then demodulated and decoded in decoder/demodulator 660 to obtainthe UCI offsets and any other higher layer control signaling and data ina computing unit 670.

The same transmitter and receiver structure may be used for the UL SAconveying the MCS and other scheduling information for the associatedPUSCH transmission.

In summary, a UE determines the CQI MCS and/or the number of ACK/NAKrepetitions in the PUSCH from its assigned data MCS in the PUSCH asfollows:

The nominal CQI MCS and the nominal number of ACK/NAK repetitions in thePUSCH are directly linked to the data MCS in the PUSCH.

The data target BLER, the CQI target BLER, and the ACK/NAK BER aredecoupled within a range determined by the range of an offset parameter.During the configuration of UE transmission parameters, a UE is alsoconfigured an offset for the MCS it should use for the CQI transmissionin the PUSCH and an offset for the number of repetitions it should usefor the ACK/NAK transmission in the PUSCH relative to the nominal CQIMCS and the nominal number of ACK/NAK repetitions determined by the linkto the data MCS.

Similar to the scheduler choosing the MCS of the initial datatransmission to maximize throughput when relying on HARQ process, theMCS of possible retransmissions may also be chosen accordingly and relyon the fact that previous data transmissions have occurred. Therefore,for adaptive retransmissions, the scheduler may choose a different MCSand target data BLER depending on the redundancy version of the HARQprocess. An offset relative to the nominal MCS may also be configuredfor the CQI transmission and/or the ACK/NAK transmission during dataretransmissions in the PUSCH. As the number of retransmissions istypically small, only a small number of such additional offsets may beconfigured for retransmissions.

If the CQI target BLER is different than the PMI (RI) target BLER, toavoid having a separate link for the PMI (RI) MCS, the PMI (RI) MCS maybe configured with an offset relative to the CQI MCS. This offset may bedetermined from the difference between the CQI and PMI (RI) targetBLERs. If the CQI target BLER is lower (or higher) than the PMI (RI)one, this offset may point to a higher (or lower) MCS for the PMI (RI)transmission.

While the present invention has been shown and described with referenceto certain embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilledin the art that various changes in form and details may be made thereinwithout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as definedby the appended claims.

1. A method for a base station to assign to a user equipment (UE)communicating with the base station a number of coded controlinformation symbols being transmitted with coded data informationsymbols during a transmission time interval by the UE, the methodcomprising: assigning at least one offset value to the UE; assigning asize of data to the UE; transmitting, by the base station, informationregarding the at least one offset value to the UE; and transmitting, bythe base station, information regarding the size of data to the UE,wherein the number of coded control information symbols assigned to theUE for transmission of control information is determined based on thesize of data and the at least one offset value; wherein the controlinformation comprises at least one of channel quality information (CQI),Acknowledgement (ACK)/Non-Acknowledgement (NAK), Precoding Matrix Index(PMI), and Rank Indicator (RI).
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thenumber of coded control information symbols corresponds to a highestModulation and Coding Scheme for data (data MCS) that achieves a signalquality that is equal to or higher than a target signal quality for thecontrol information.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the number ofcoded control information symbols corresponds to a smallest number ofcoding repetitions that achieves a signal quality that is equal to orhigher than a target signal quality for the control information.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the at least one offset value comprises afirst offset value and a second offset value, a first number of codedcontrol information symbols of a first type assigned to the UE isdetermined based on the size of data and the first offset value, and asecond number of coded control information symbols of a second typeassigned to the UE is determined based on the size of data and thesecond offset value, and wherein the coded control information symbolsof the first type comprise channel quality information (CQI), and thecoded control information symbols of the second type compriseAcknowledgement (ACK)/Non-Acknowledgement (NAK).
 5. A method fordetermining, at a user equipment (UE) communicating with a base station,a number of coded control information symbols being transmitted withcoded data information symbols during a transmission time interval bythe UE, the method comprising: receiving information regarding at leastone offset value from the base station; receiving information regardinga size of data from the base station; determining the number of codedcontrol information symbols based on the size of data and the at leastone offset value for transmission of control information; andtransmitting the coded control information symbols with the coded datainformation symbols; wherein the control information comprises at leastone of channel quality information (CQI), Acknowledgement(ACK)/Non-Acknowledgement (NAK), Precoding Matrix Index (PMI), and RankIndicator (RI).
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the number of codedcontrol information symbols corresponds to a highest Modulation andCoding Scheme for data (data MCS) that achieves a signal quality that isequal to or higher than a target signal quality for the controlinformation.
 7. The method of claim 5, wherein the number of codedcontrol information symbols corresponds to a smallest number of codingrepetitions that achieves a signal quality that is equal to or higherthan a target signal quality for the control information.
 8. The methodof claim 5, wherein the at least one offset value comprises a firstoffset value and a second offset value, a first number of coded controlinformation symbols of a first type is determined based on the firstoffset value and the size of data, a second number of coded controlinformation symbols of a second type is determined based on the secondoffset value and the size of data, and wherein the coded controlinformation symbols of the first type comprise channel qualityinformation (CQI), and the coded control information symbols of thesecond type comprise Acknowledgement (ACK)/Non-Acknowledgement (NAK). 9.An apparatus to assign to a user equipment (UE) communicating with abase station a number of coded control information symbols beingtransmitted with coded data information symbols during the sametransmission time interval by the UE, the apparatus comprising: anassigning unit to assign a size of data and at least one offset value tothe UE; and a transmitting unit to transmit information regarding thesize of data and information regarding the at least one offset value tothe UE, wherein the number of coded control information symbols assignedto the UE for transmission of control information is determined based onthe size of data and the at least one offset value; and wherein thecontrol information comprises at least one of channel qualityinformation (CQI), Acknowledgement (ACK)/Non-Acknowledgement (NAK),Precoding Matrix Index (PMI), and Rank Indicator (RI).
 10. The apparatusof claim 9, wherein the number of coded control information symbolscorrespond to a highest Modulation and Coding Scheme for data (data MCS)that achieves a signal quality that is equal to or higher than a targetsignal quality for the control information.
 11. The apparatus of claim9, wherein the number of coded control information symbols correspondsto a smallest number of coding repetitions that achieves a signalquality that is equal to or higher than a target signal quality for thecontrol information.
 12. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the at leastone offset value comprises a first offset value and a second offsetvalue, a first number of coded control information symbols of a firsttype assigned to the UE is determined based on the size of data and thefirst offset value, and a second number of coded control informationsymbols of a second type transmitted from the UE is determined based onthe size of data and the second offset value, and wherein the codedcontrol information symbols of the first type comprise channel qualityinformation (CQI), and the coded control symbols of the second typecomprise Acknowledgement (ACK)/Non-Acknowledgement (NAK).
 13. Anapparatus for transmitting coded control information symbols and codeddata information symbols during a transmission time interval, theapparatus comprising: a receiving unit to receive information regardinga size of data and information regarding at least one offset value froma base station; a computing unit to determine the number of codedcontrol information symbols based on the size of data and the at leastone offset value for transmission of control information; and atransmitter unit to transmit the coded control information symbols withthe coded data information symbols; wherein the control informationcomprises at least one of channel quality information (CQI),Acknowledgement (ACK)/Non-Acknowledgement (NAK), Precoding Matrix Index(PMI), and Rank Indicator (RI).
 14. The apparatus of claim 13, whereinthe number of coded control information symbols corresponds to a highestModulation and Coding Scheme for data (data MCS) that achieves a signalquality that is equal to or higher than a target signal quality for thecontrol information.
 15. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the numberof coded control information symbols corresponds to a smallest number ofcoding repetitions that achieves a signal quality that is equal to orhigher than a target signal quality for the control information.
 16. Theapparatus of claim 13, wherein the at least one offset value comprises afirst offset value and a second offset value, the computing unitdetermines a first number of coded control information symbols of afirst type based on the size of data and the first offset value anddetermines a second number of coded control information symbols of asecond type based on the size of data and the second offset valuewherein the coded control information symbols of the first type comprisechannel quality information (CQI), and the coded control symbols of thesecond type comprise Acknowledgement (ACK)/Non-Acknowledgement (NAK).